1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety ski binding having lateral retention wings and adjustment screws for adjusting the position of the wings to accommodate boots of different widths.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Safety ski bindings known as "front abutment" bindings, immobilize of the front portion of a ski boot. This type of front abutment generally comprises a support element integral with the ski. The abutment also includes a unit comprising a body and a retention jaw. The retention jaw holds the boot, and the unit is adapted to laterally pivot, to the right or the left around the support element, against the bias of an elastic energization mechanism which defines the release threshold of the binding.
In order to adapt the retention jaw of such a front abutment to different shoe widths, the jaw is composed of two lateral retention wings, each journalled on the body around their respective pivoting axes. Adjustment elements such as screws are provided to independently adjust the position of each lateral retention wing. Such an arrangement is illustrated, for example, in French Pat. No. 1,336,704, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In the binding described therein, each wing comprises an adjustment screw located on either side of the binding. One adjusts the configuration and position of the jaw by manipulating the two screws using a screwdriver on either side of the binding to bring the two retention wings into contact with the boot. The necessity of using a screwdriver on both sides of the binding is both time consuming and awkward. To overcome this disadvantage, other binding constructions have been proposed.
For example, French Pat. No. 1,480,207 describes a front abutment having a body which pivots around a vertical axis integral with the ski. The body comprises two lateral retention wings whose angular positions with respect to the body are adjusted by means of a single screw which is screwed into the central portion of the body. Although this binding only requires one adjustment, such an adjustment apparatus has the disadvantage of having a complex and cumbersome structure. In addition, such a vertically disposed screw also has the disadvantage of being easily confused with the screw which adjusts the binding height and which is most often, itself, positioned vertically on the binding. The skier who is not knowledgeable can thus misadjust the width of the jaw of the binding while believing that he has adjusted the height, and vice versa.